Can anyone recommend me a smart charger?

[Reptile Smile]

Hi all,

I've just got my first AEG, and the charger that came with it is the regular 'unplug at the allotted hour' type (though doesn't anywhere tell me when the allotted hour might be, which is a bit frustrating), and I had heard online about how you should buy a smart charger before you buy a gun, so I was just wondering what folks would recommend.

In an ideal world it would be hopefully relatively cheap and give me some degree of future-proofing. It's not so much that I want lipo capability (I'm such a n00b that that isn't really on my radar yet) but some degree of flexibility such that it would be likely to cope with my 'next' gun as well would be great.

Any ideas? Cheers all

 

[Monty]

Vapex make pretty good chargers.

 

[Shinobi]

Fo' NIMH's I assume. This is a good one: http://www.componentshop.co.uk/600ma-smart-charger-for-7-2-8-4-9-6v-battery-packs.html

 

[Reptile Smile]

Thanks both - really useful. Shinobi - I presume it's NiMHs, but the whole thing is covered in electrical tape, and I can't really tell. Is there any other way for me to tell/anything else it's likely to be?

 

[Ian_Gere]

If it's obviously made of 7 small cylindrical cells approx 28x18mm it is an 8.4V mini NiMh (1000-1600mAh). If the cells are bigger cylinders approx 43x23mm then the battery pack will be 2000-5000mAh NiMh. If there are 8 cells it's a 9.6V NiMh. If it's just 2 cells (any shape) then it's a 7.4V Lipo, 3 cells it could be an 11.1V LiPo or a 9.9V LiFe.

The charger Shinobi linked to will do your NiMh batteries of any voltage you'll need, but basically it's a trickle charger with auto cut off. If you have one of those timer plugs, you can make the one you have do the same sort of thing - use the App link at the top of this forum's pages and select "Battery Charge Calculator" - it will ask you for your battery capacity in mAh, which if you don't know you should ask whomever you got it from and/or put a pic up in this thread so we can advise you, and also ask you for your charger's Rate in mA, which will be printed on the transformer under where it tells you the input voltage and output voltage.

Put in the numbers and click "submit" and out will pop the time you need to charge your battery for a full charge. Obviously, if the battery isn't fully drained you don't need to charge it as long, but you will not know exactly how drained it is. Overcharging will damage a battery eventually, but a little bit every now and then isn't so bad - I've done exactly this without killing batteries! As an approximate very general guide, a fully charged 1600mAh battery will just about last a full day of noob skirmishing (we all tend to fire more when we start, until we get more skilled and more confident in our skill). If you're like me, and can't run so well, you might blast through 4-5000 BB's in a day to begin with and that will drain a 1600mAh completely and another one about a third of its charge.

Something that will be a bit more future ready, but without costing loads (£28 inc P&P), is this.

 

[sp00n]

+1 on the I-max b6, I have the split power supply version, it is a little daunting to set up, but once you get the hang of it, it's well worth it

 

[kejot]

+2 on B6, great little charger and does more types of battery than listed on the tin!!

 

[CaptainSwoop]

I have a b6 as well. Just got it and some LiPo to go with the two ex rentals I got.

Haven't used them yet as both the guns are in bits being serviced, refurbished and upgraded.